I am so excited – my uncle made the long journey south to visit us! He said he still hadn’t seen any signs of Romans up north, but there had been some new faces passing through recently. It has been some time since I last saw Verecunda – I wonder if she went north after all…

I misplaced my beloved clay tile during one of my stops while searching for Briga. When I returned to find it, the locals said a young girl had found it, and was desperately seeking whoever had lost it. Surely, it’s my Briga? Could she be looking for me too?

It turns out that the morning Verecunda went missing, my father had ordered his men to find and banish her! After Ebutius’s news proved Verecunda’s innocence, my father reversed his order, but this may have come too late. She still hasn’t returned… Could she be in another far-flung part of the empire now?

It was bad enough that Salamanes lost his son, but when Verecunda went missing too, he was left completely heartbroken. Many people here say that he left to return to his native Syria, and I have heard whispers that Verecunda, who had been in hiding, decided to follow him there…